1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to storage, handling and dispensing of liquid color for use in plastic fabricating, specifically in injection and compression molding, and in extrusion.
2. Description of the Prior Art and Commercial Practice
The “pump in a drum” concept is that every drum filled with liquid color has a pump included within it. This relieves the liquid color customer from having to own and from maintaining the pump, and from moving the pump from drum to drum. Liquid color can be very messy and difficult to handle, like oil-based paint, so it is desirable to eliminate or minimize the handling of liquid color-contaminated parts, pumps, tubing, etc.
Because pumps are costly, the empty liquid color drum, with the pump inside, must be returned for refill. The cost of pumps currently used is around $100.00, which is too high to throw away the pump with the drum.
Returning the drum presents its own set of problems, namely shipping costs, storage costs, tracking, risk of the drum being contaminated before being refilled, costs to clean or dispose of contaminated drums, etc.